Time Split

by Patricia Smith

  As he passed into the hall, he stumbled on an obstacle lying across the passage. When he turned to see what it was, he realised the teleporter would be found in the house next door.

  A part of history, which hadn’t been changed, now lay before him. A lady he’d known as Lesley, who in the correct timeline had been his neighbour for the past two years, lay on the floor with a carving knife embedded in her throat. She was partially clothed and Jason guessed the motive had been rape.

  Society would have fallen apart almost instantly. Everything he’d seen had proved that. People like Lesley, gentle, kind and petite, would have been easy pickings for the predators which emerged. The law of the jungle would replace the law of the land and only the big and powerful, or those with protection, survived.

  Jason tore his eyes away from the grisly scene and returned to the back of the house.

  “Are you all right?” Sarah asked. She could see he was upset. She touched his hands. “You’re shaking.”

  “I’m fine,” Jason replied. He didn’t want to reiterate the horrors of the hallway. “Come on, the machine’s next door,” but as he turned to climb the fence, Sarah suddenly gave a sharp cry. Alarmed, Jason spun around to find Andrews holding a knife to her throat.

  “I’m sure you don’t want to see the lady hurt,” he said, gripping her neck tightly. “So be a good boy and show us where you’ve hidden your machine.”

  Jason never moved. His mind raced for possible scenarios, as he desperately tried to think of a way to save Sarah.

  She seemed incredibly calm.

  He couldn’t lose her now, not so close. They’d been through so much in the past twenty-four hours, she was almost a part of his life. As he stood rigid, his thoughts void of ideas, she gave a slight shake and the anguish slipped away. He knew what she meant. Correcting the timeline was the only thing that mattered. The machine must never be passed over to these people and, one way or another, the butchery had to be stopped.

  The gun felt heavy in his hand as he flexed his fingers around the butt.

  “Don’t even think about it,” Andrews warned, when he saw Jason fingering the gun. He tightened his grip further until Sarah’s breathing became a harsh rasp. Suddenly her eyes closed and her face winced, then a single drop of blood glistening in the moonlight trickled down the blade.

  “Move it!” Andrews snarled, “Or I’ll cut her fucking head off.”

  Jason knew he had only one shot at this; a shot he couldn’t afford to miss. To accidentally hit Sarah was unthinkable. Pushing this from his thoughts, he tried to relax and focus his mind. Then turning as though to comply, he caught Andrews off guard for a fraction of a second, when he spun back around and fired.

  Blood sprayed from the soldier’s head. He stumbled backwards with the force of the blow, then fell to the ground, dragging Sarah with him. A section of bone had been blown away from the right-hand side of his skull, but amazingly the man still lived.

  Jason leapt forward, dragging Sarah free. As he flung her clear and was about to step away, his legs were suddenly kicked from beneath him. He hit the ground with force. There was just enough time to grasp the situation before the glint of a blade, flashing in the moonlight, warned him of impending danger.

  He flung up his arms to defend himself, acquiring a fragile hold on the killer’s wrist. Blood pouring from Andrews’ head coated Jason’s hands and he could feel his grip slipping. It took all of Jason’s strength to keep the knife at bay, despite the soldier’s injuries. Then suddenly, from above, there was a sickening crunch. As Andrews’ body lurched forward, Jason realised the battle was over.

  He struggled to free himself from the dead weight, as Sarah tossed the rock she’d used to brain the sergeant off to one side.

  Already people were running in their direction and above it all Briggs could be heard bellowing out commands.

  Jason took Sarah’s hand and dragged her over the fence into the next garden.

  Pounding across the grass they ran to the back door. They were horrified to find it locked. It took three kicks to force it open, then through the kitchen they tore and into the passage beyond.

  “I’ve got the key,” Jason gasped. He was shaking so badly he could barely steady his hands. He searched the coat pockets, then suddenly his body chilled when he realised he couldn’t remember where he’d put it.

  “Come on,” Sarah hissed, as vital seconds passed.

  Jason ripped at the belt and popped the buttons rather than open them. For his jacket, it was the same. When he found the key in the inner pocket there was no time to enjoy the relief. He unlocked the cellar door and they both leapt inside.

  “Grab the torch,” he instructed as he struggled, in the pitch black, to lock it from the other side.

  Sarah raked about in the rucksack and had just directed the light when a comforting click confirmed his success.

  Swiftly they descended the stairs and found the teleporter exactly where he’d left it. By now they could hear their pursuers upstairs. It would just be a matter of time before they were found.

  Jason activated the machine and checked the level of charge. It was in the red. “What’s your weight?”

  There were raised voices outside the cellar door. Suddenly the handle rattled, then came a violent thud.

  “119 pounds... roughly,” Sarah said distractedly, her eyes fixed firmly on the door.

  As another thump sounded in the cellar, the wood began to give. A thin crack ran from beneath the frame to half the length of the door.

  Jason calculated her weight against the remaining power. “You’ll have about three minutes before you’re returned.” He handed her the gun. “There’ll be no more than that, so don’t waste time.” He pushed her into the pod.

  She stared at the weapon, aghast. “You’ll need the gun.” She tried to hand it back. “They’ll be through any second.”

  “No! I don’t matter anymore.” He pushed her hand away and closed the door to the pod. “When you see me in Germany, you must stop me! Even if it means you have to kill me. You must stop me!”

  “No!” Sarah cried, her eyes wild. “I couldn’t do that.”

  “You must!” Jason yelled. “This timeline cannot be allowed to continue.” He stepped up to the controls and keyed in the program.

  There was one more thud and the wood finally shattered. Particles of the door came tumbling down the stairs, just barely missing Jason as they fell to the cellar floor.

  “Stop!” a soldier yelled from the top of the stairs.

  Jason initiated the sequence, just as they began to fire. The first shot missed, but the second hit its target. As a spray of blood spurted from the back of the scientist’s head his body fell to the ground like a macabre scarecrow.

  “Nooo!” Sarah screamed.

  Three soldiers began their descent and were halfway down the stairs when Sarah’s distress was cut short by her abrupt disappearance.

  “Destroy the machine. We have to stop that bitch making any changes,” Briggs yelled from the doorway.

  It took half a minute to set up the grenades, each with a sixty-second timer. The pins were removed and the basement cleared. The last of the soldiers had just reached the outside door when the detonators engaged. The resulting explosion blasted everything in the cellar into a million pieces.

  Chapter Twenty

  “Excuse me, sir, the film finished ten minutes ago, you’ll have to leave.”

  Jason stared at the girl blankly for a moment before suddenly remembering where he was.

  “You’ll have to leave now or I’ll call the manager,” she said, her voice sharp.

  Jason shook his head. “There’s no need. I’m sorry.” He stood. “I’m going now.”

  Once outside he checked his watch. In three minutes’ time he would be recalled. He had to be somewhere quiet or his disappearance might be seen.

  * * *

  Sarah suddenly found herself standing near a town square, the cry still deep in her throat. Her
initial shock gave way instantly to surprise when she realised everything Jason had said was true. She’d wanted to believe him but, despite this, a small part of her mind had denied it could ever be possible – yet here she was in Jason’s Germany.

  A demonstration was taking place and in the commotion nobody had even noticed her unusual arrival.

  Quickly she looked around. There was no time to lose. She had to find Jason; she had to find him now. Three minutes, her mind kept screaming, only three minutes, he’d said.

  She scanned the streets, her senses on high alert, but she couldn’t see him anywhere. She started towards the square, then suddenly she was bumped from behind. She glanced at the perpetrator, as they passed, and was shocked to see it was Jason.

  She tried to grab him, but missed. “Jason!” she yelled. “Stop! You must listen!”

  He continued through the crowd, the noise of the demonstration drowning out her cries, oblivious to her presence.

  Sarah could see the door to a building across the street open; some men in uniform were making their way down the stairs. As Jason crossed the road towards them, she suddenly found herself caught up in the crowd. Pushing against the mass, she forced her way through the demonstrators. As she shoved past a man, he grabbed her arm and yelled at her aggressively in German. Quickly she flung him off and continued to press on, but when she finally broke free she realised she was too late.

  Jason was already standing with his gun pointed at the two guards.

  The weapon she’d been given now weighed heavy in her hand. She could clearly see the man the guards were trying to protect, but the man she wanted to protect would now possibly have to die.

  “Jason, don’t move!” She started to run towards him.

  This time he heard. As he looked around shocked and froze in surprise, Sarah saw one of the guards grab his gun and prepare to fire.

  “No!” she screamed, and with a burst of speed threw herself at Jason, shielding him from the weapon.

  Suddenly the darkness of the city night was replaced by the painful brightness of strip lighting and Sarah found herself in the middle of the teleporter once again.

  “Who the hell are you?” Jason said, as he leapt away from her in surprise.

  “You sent me to stop you. You were about to kill Adolf Hitler,” she blurted, just before she burst into tears. “I can’t believe it’s all over,” she sobbed.

  “What’s all over?”

  Jason sat in stunned silence as Sarah told him of the war and how he’d discovered where the time split had occurred.

  “I always knew,” he said, with obvious shame, “there’d be a danger of repercussions, but I would’ve never risked it if I’d thought they could’ve been so severe.”

  Sarah had begun to calm and her initial distress had been swept away by a growing swell of excitement. “I must go outside,” she cried. She leapt to her feet. “I won’t believe it’s true, until I’ve been outside.” She tore up the stairs with Jason close behind, burst through into the hall and out the front door.

  “It’s true! It’s true! Thank goodness it’s true,” she screamed. She jumped around the path waving her arms high in the air.

  As Jason stood, smiling at Sarah’s infectious joy, Jessica joined them in the garden.

  “What’s going on? It’s two in the morning.” She fell silent when she spotted Sarah and flashed Jason a questioning look.

  Before Jason had the chance to explain, though, they were joined in the garden by another.

  “What’s all the noise?”

  Jason froze. It was a voice he hadn’t heard in many years. A voice he’d longed to hear just one more time.

  “What’s the matter, Jason?” his mother asked, as he turned around to face her.

  It took several seconds for him to compose himself before he dared to speak. “It’s wonderful to see you, mother,” he said, as the tears welled in his eyes.

  “It’s wonderful to see you too, dear,” she replied, smiling.

  THE END.

  About the Author

  As a child I always had a fantastic imagination and I have enjoyed writing stories all my life. I also had a fascination for astronomy and science and would lie in bed from a very young age looking at the stars.

  I joined a local astronomy group when I received my first telescope, for Christmas, seven years ago. Since then I’ve enjoyed many a night, freezing until I can’t stand it anymore, looking at the delights of the Universe and the magical wonders of alien worlds.

  I live in Northumberland, England, with my husband and three cats. Whenever possible, we (not the cats) like to go walking in the magnificent Northumberland and Kielder hills.

  I started my career in computing, but presently I work at a college helping students who are struggling with their maths and English. The rest of my time is worked around my writing.

  Ten years ago, writing became almost an obsession. Since then I have written the novella, Time Split, the novels: Distant Suns and Islands Beneath the Sea (a working title), and a number of short stories.

  Time Split was the first story I wrote and published.

  I strive in my writing to give you a rollercoaster ride of emotions and excitement, mixed in with a good dash of fear – all from the safety of your armchair.

  Sample of Distant Suns

  The solitary planet, swathed in a gaseous cocoon, glistened softly, like a sapphire adorning a cloak of infinite black.

  Vaporous clusters, mingling in the ether, drifted gracefully above a wash of azure broken only by a lone continent.

  This single landmass had been two at the rise of the oceans, but the movement of the lithospheric plates had resulted in a merging and now, like the spiny back of an immense beast, a vast mountain range ran its length at the point of impact.

  All the ingredients had been present from the start and the proximity of the twin suns – a red giant and a lesser yellow star with a biannual orbit – had brought the planet into the habitable zone.

  An ocean rich with nutrients, created after the planet cooled from its fiery birth, saw the advent of DNA and the emergence of single-celled creatures which began the pattern of life and the subsequent development of more sophisticated species.

  A billion years of evolution had left this world rippling with life. It wasn’t technological, but it was intelligent. It was a time before writing and a time before primates, but communication was good and knowledge passed down. Despite this, an extraordinarily bright star, seen briefly in the daytime sky a thousand years ago, would have never been linked to the end.

  Those by the coast had advanced warning that something was wrong, when the tide suddenly swept an incalculable distance out to sea. A violent wind followed; then as breathing became laboured and the air thickened, a glow emanated around the horizon. This was not unusual on a world with two suns, but the speed and intensity with which the light grew was a different matter. It climbed over the edge of the planet to fill the sky until, further and higher than sight allowed, a wall of blue fire sped towards the land at a phenomenal pace.

  Fear and wonder held some in place, but for those who did run there would still be no escape.

  The ferocity of the wind climbed the closer the flame drew. It ripped at the trees and undergrowth to combine animals and plants in a terror-filled roar. Then moments later, a sonic blast reached the shore: a solid wall of air which tore across the land to smash any strongholds in its path and leave most dead, or dying, when the inferno arrived and burned all to ash in its wake.

 

 

 
e